Broken Ice
by ghouladventures
Summary: The BAU is working on a case in the cold winters of Alaska. While investigating, the ice beneath Reid's feet begins to break. Read to find out what happens next! (i am so sorry I suck at descriptions)
1. Chapter 1

The BAU was in Alaska, investigating a series of murders. Dead bodies were being hidden in a glacier cave. JJ and Prentiss were interviewing a friend of one of the victims. Rossi and Hotch were at the autopsy examining the unsub's M.O. Reid and Morgan got stuck going to the unsub's hiding spot. Out in the cold.

The wind was blowing, making the already freezing air much colder. Reid and Morgan were all bundled up with coats, gloves, and hats covering them up. Their breath creating clouds of water vapor with every exhale.

They trudged through the snow before the frozen-over lake came into view. The glacier was only across the lake by a short distance. The quickest way would to just walk across the ice.

"Should we just walk across?" Morgan asked.

Reid looked at Morgan with a look of worry, "No! Don't you know how dangerous it is to walk across frozen lakes?"

"Yeah but it's not too far, I'm sure we'll be fine" Morgan shrugged without any concern.

Reid stayed silent in thought, falling through ice was always one of his fears. He wiggled his numb toes in anxiety. He felt a hand touch his back.

"Is something wrong kid?" Morgan asked, taking on a slightly more serious tone.

Reid bit his lip as his body started to mildly shake in worry. However, Reid was getting tired of being seen as so weak and frightened all the time. He wanted to be brave, like Morgan or Hotch.

"O-okay, let's go" Reid said, trying his best to hide the uneasiness in his voice.

Morgan took a step onto the thick ice. Reid stood hesitant for a while, before he landed his foot onto the ice, followed by his second. Spencer's stomach flipped at the thought of going any farther.

The two started to walk at a normal pace, occasionally slipping a bit on the ice and laughing it off. Reid felt his heart was about to explode, but he tried to keep hiding his panic from Morgan.

Reid and Morgan were almost to the glacier cave, that was supported by land. Reid couldn't wait to feel safe and secure again. Morgan stepped onto the snowy land. Reid following about a yard behind. Spencer was feeling proud of how he accomplished his fear, until he took one step forward, not noticing how thin the ice was there.

Crack. Crack. Crack. Reid stopped breathing and looked down in horror at what he was hearing. His body froze in fear, he didn't know what he should do. But before he could even decide what to do. The sheet of thin ice broke from underneath his frame.


	2. Chapter 2

Reid felt his body fall through the ice. Coldness engulfed his body as he became submerged in the freezing water. Even though he knew it wasn't logical, Reid fell into a state of panic.

"Morgan!" He shouted, spitting out water and catching his breath before the weight of his clothes dragged him down again.

With coldness penetrating all of Reid's skin, he couldn't calm himself down. Thrashing about, he tried to grab onto the edge of the ice, but it was slick due to the new water that had been splashed onto it. He felt as though his organs were already frozen solid. Fear inducing him to take short and quick breaths, his heart beating like mad, black dots and blurriness was all he saw before his body gave up and welcomed the darkness.

Morgan ran to the edge of the ice to see that Reid had stopped moving and had fainted due to his immense terror. It wasn't long before all of Reid's clothing caused his unconscious body to begin sinking.

"Reid!" Morgan yelled and reached his arms into the ice cold water, but Reid was beyond reach. There was no time to think, and no time to waste.

Diving into the water, he went after his best friend. Time seemed to slow down as he contemplated what was happening.

There was Reid, looking as though he was peacefully asleep, floating in the water. The light outside creating a soft glow on his pale complexion. His dark curly locks creating a silky soft halo around his perfect face.

Morgan swam as fast as he could and grabbed ahold of Reid's coat, and with that he swam towards the surface of the ice. Reid's body feeling light as a feather underwater.

Resurfacing, he took a deep breath and clutched the frigid ice, it gave his hand a stinging cold burn, but that wasn't important. He used all of his strength to pull himself out of the water and onto land. Once he did, he sat on the edge of the water and pulled Reid up.

Once Reid was out of the water, Morgan carried him to actual land. The closest place for warmth was the glacier cave. Morgan ran, holding Reid close in his arms.

He got inside the cave and laid Reid down gently. He put two icy fingers to Reid's pale neck and checked for a pulse. There was no movement. Morgan's stomach flipped at the thought of losing Reid. He checked one more time, only to find nothing.

Without hesitation, Morgan straddled Reid's waist and pressed up his palms to the bottom of Reid's sternum. He began pulsing chest compressions in a desperate attempt to rescue his friend. Reid lay motionless throughout the CPR procedure. Every compression that passed by where Reid didn't wake up, made Morgan more and more afraid.

"Come on man" Morgan shouted, his voice quivering as hot tears began to fall. Reid still remained immobile, his blue lips revealing no breath.

"Stay with me pretty boy" he whispered before pinching Reid's nose and performing mouth to mouth. He breathed into Reid's soft, cold, lips, and he felt as though he were breathing into a corpse. But Morgan would not give up on Reid.


	3. Chapter 3

Shoutout to: tannerose5 for giving me the beginning idea!

Reid was introduced to a white light, it was coming from the end of a long tunnel. He began to walk down to reach the tempting illumination. He made his way down the tunnel. He felt as though he was floating on air, peaceful as a mirror-still lake. Further Reid came towards the white beam of light, he could feel his body becoming lighter and lighter. He was inches away from this light, logically, no person could see this with the naked eye.

An echo came from the other side of the tunnel. "Come on Reid", the voice said, it was Morgan.

"Morgan?" Reid asked, turning away from the light and looking back.

Slowly, Reid could feel his chest start to hurt in short pulses. The tunnel and light he once saw were replaced with darkness.

Morgan had already broken through Reid's ribs in order to keep his heart beating. Not only was his phone broken from the water, he was freezing as well. He let out a shaky cold breath and rubbed his hands together before performing mouth-to-mouth once again. It seemed hopeless at this point.

He took a teary eyed look at Reid's pale, cold skin, his blue hued lips, his fragile eyelashes that rested gently on his cheeks. Morgan let out a hopeless sob.

"I'm so sorry kid" He choked out through sobs that wracked his frame. He placed his head in his hands and continued to weep.

"Please wake up" Morgan whimpered once more, letting tears land on his friend's body.

Morgan heard talking coming from the entrance of the cave, with footsteps. He looked up to see JJ and Prentiss coming towards them. They got to the cave and gasped at seeing Reid laying on the floor and Morgan red-eyed with tears.

"What happened?" JJ said as she and Prentiss rushed to Reid's side.

"He fell through the ice," Morgan said, trying not to let his voice break. "He fell pretty far down before I could get to him...I-I'm pretty sure he's dead" he said before sniffing and rubbing his nose.

"Well, an ambulance can't drive out here," Prentiss said, "we should take him to the car, it's pretty far out though because of the snow" she continued.

Morgan picked up Reid and they got up, they didn't want to risk going across the ice again; they had to go the long way. They needed to go fast, so Morgan slung Reid over his shoulder and held onto his legs. They went as fast as they could across the snowy terrain. Reid's weak arms swinging limply with every step Morgan took.

It felt like hours before they finally reached the black FBI vehicle. Once they arrived Morgan hopped into the backseat and laid Reid's head in his lap. They were off like a rocket, speeding to get to the hospital.

Muffled noises came to Reid's ears as he could sense from the soft hum of a car ride. Everything was dark, he tried his best to open his eyes.

"What's going on" He tried to say, but it only came out in a small moan-whisper.

"Reid?" Morgan looked to his friend, who was trying to speak from his frozen lips.

Morgan held Reid's face in his hands as Reid began to wake up slowly. Reid's eyes fluttered open and he furrowed his eyebrows. Once his eyes were fully opened he looked strait into Morgan's eyes.

Reid began to look confused, his memory was hazy.

He tried recollecting what happened: falling through the ice. Cold. Freezing. Scared. Can't breathe. Darkness.

A panicked look arose on Reid's face, a look of true fear spread across his innocent features. He grabbed ahold of Morgan's arm to ground himself. He was shivering involuntarily from the cold.

"Shh, shh, Reid, it's okay, I'm right here, don't worry" Morgan comforted, stroking Reid's hair to calm him down.

Small whimpers escaped Reid's lips as he continued to tremble. He looked up to Morgan before his eyes rolled back and he collapsed back into Morgan's lap.

"Reid?"


	4. Chapter 4

Morgan ran through the doors of the emergency room, carrying unconscious Reid in his arms.

"Please! My friend needs help!" Morgan cried out desperately, running to the front desk. Prentiss and JJ rushed in through the doors.

"Okay, there are medics coming right away" The secretary said, pushing a call button on her desk.

Morgan glanced down at Reid, who started shivering in his arms again.

"Reid can you hear me?" Morgan asked concerned, at least Reid was still alive.

Reid began to take in jagged, choked breaths. He was struggling to breathe, like he was still underwater. Reid began to convulse with a series of intense coughs. Water that was stuck in his lungs was coughed up as well. Once he was done coughing, his shivering continued.

The medics came up with a stretcher and Morgan laid Reid's gentle young body down.

Reid's head was light as a feather, his ribs were screaming in pain. He felt his body being placed on the stretcher. A hand grabbed ahold of his, through quivering eyelids he made out that Morgan was by his side. A small smile tried its best to appear, only the corner of Reid's mouth perking upward slightly.

"Reid, I'm right here, everything is going to be okay" Morgan kept consoling while stroking Reid's pale-white hand with his thumb.

Reid weakly nodded in response, keeping his gaze on Morgan the whole stretcher ride. They made it to the operating room.

"Sorry sir, you can't come inside at this moment, but you can visit him after" One of the doctors told Morgan sympathetically, then closed the door.

Morgan watched through the window.

The doctors picked up Reid's exhausted body from the stretcher and onto the hospital bed. They hooked him up to a heart monitor. Another doctor placed an oxygen mask on Reid's nose and mouth. His frozen, wet clothes were replaced with a hospital gown.

Reid felt a small sharp pain enter into his arm. His eyes shifted down to see that there was a needle in his arm. A numb feeling spread across his body, and before he knew it, he was knocked out.

Morgan saw the medics pull out a scalpel, along with other surgical instruments to operate on his broken ribs. He looked away once he saw the knife cut Reid's chest, creating a line of dark crimson.

Prentiss laid a hand on Morgan's shoulder, "Hey, Reid's gonna be alright, you did everything you could" she comforted.

Morgan just nodded in return, he was stuck in his own mind. Although he appreciated the support, he didn't feel like talking all that much.

"Well, I bet you're cold too, I think you should change into some dry clothes and warm up" JJ added.

"What? Aren't we gonna wait here to make sure Reid is okay?" Morgan protested, still worrying about him.

"We can come back, but we should inform the rest of the team" Prentiss explained.

Morgan glanced back at the operating room one more time; sighing. They left the automatic doors and drove back to the police station that the team was using.


	5. Chapter 5

"Reid's in the emergency room" Prentiss told Hotch once they got to the police station.

"What happened?" Rossi asked, concerned.

Both Prentiss and JJ looked at Morgan; he hadn't told them exactly what happened, he didn't have time to explain to them.

Morgan took a deep breath. "Reid fell through the ice and I didn't know at first. I turned around when he yelled my name, he was struggling to get out of the water. He passed out from panicking too much and began sinking down the water. When I got him out he didn't have a pulse, so I gave him CPR. Prentiss and JJ came over and we drove to the hospital. In the emergency room Reid started to cough up water but he was shivering like crazy. Right now he's in the operating room." Morgan explained quickly.

The "clip clop" sound of heels on the hard floor came closer. "Guy's I think I got our unsub, I already sent the address to your phon..." Garcia paused seeing everyone standing together with worried looks on their faces.

"What's going on?" She asked, walking closer.

"Reid's in the emergency room, but right now we need to track down our unsub" Hotch said.

"What?!" Garcia exclaimed from shock.

"We will explain later, we have to go, Morgan, stay behind and make sure Reid is okay" JJ said, and with that they were out the door and off to catch the unsub.

Garcia stood wide eyed at what she had just heard. "Do you mind telling me what happened?" She asked Morgan upset.

Hesitant, Morgan explained everything that happened at the glacier; in detail. From when they began walking on the ice, all the way to the operating room. He clenched his teeth together after telling the story, trying to keep his emotions inside. He couldn't help but worry, Reid was like a little brother to him.

Garcia was already in tears halfway through his explanation. "I'm proud of you chocolate thunder, Reid could have died if it wasn't for you" she sniveled, giving Morgan a hug.

"Come on, let's go to the hospital and wait for Reid" She said, grabbing her coat and her bag.

Once they got to the emergency room, they sat down in the waiting room. It felt like an eternity there, the two of them wanted to talk about what just happened, but they let silence speak instead.

After about an hour and a half, a doctor came out holding a clipboard. "You're here for Spencer Reid, right?"

"Yes," Morgan said anxious, already standing up.

"He suffered from hypothermia and nearly drowned, but we were able to save him. We needed to operate on his broken ribs, which don't worry, it is normal to break ribs during CPR. He is coming out of surgery now. You may come visit him now." She explained politely.

Morgan and Garcia followed the doctor down the hallway to Reid's hospital room.

There was Reid, laying calmly under an electric blanket. His dark eyelids closed, his face pale. A slow heart monitor beeping, telling Morgan that Reid was still alive.


	6. Chapter 6

Reid slowly opened his heavy eyelids. His body felt strangely fuzzy and lightweight. Turning his head to the side, his eyes tried to open more. Reid's movements signaled to Morgan and Garcia that he was finally awake.

Morgan grabbed Reid's hand, "Reid, I'm right here" Morgan said, soothingly.

Reid looked at Morgan through dazed hazel eyes. "W-what happened?" he asked in a raspy voice, before clearing his throat.

"You, well, you fell through the ice, nearly froze _and_ almost drowned to death" Morgan replied.

Reid furrowed his brow, trying to remember everything that happened, his thoughts were interrupted by Garcia.

"Reid, Don't ever scare us like this again!" She said before giving him a gentle hug. Reid smirked.

"I was so scared man, I thought you were dead." Morgan added, looking into Reid's eyes with genuine emotion. He cared so much for Reid, he didn't care how awkward the situation was. He would let Reid know that he loved him like family no matter what.

Morgan couldn't help but notice that whenever he looked at Reid, Reid seemed disoriented and tired. Morgan wasn't used to seeing Reid this way, it looked as if he was drunk.

"That could just be the anesthesia wearing off" Morgan thought, but he wanted his old Reid back, and he wanted to make sure that Reid was just like his old self when he got out of here.

"I'm gonna go to the restroom real quick" Morgan said, excusing himself. Once he was outside the door he found a nurse.

"Excuse me," Morgan asked her, she turned around.

"What can I help you with?" She replied with.

"I just have a question. So my friend is recovering from hypothermia right now. But he seems kind of confused and out of it. Do you know why that might be?" Morgan asked.

"Those symptoms are common in hypothermia, dazed state of mind, slight loss of motor skills, involuntary shivering, slurred speech, and poor coordination can happen with patients suffering from hypothermia. But don't worry, once he is fully recovered these symptoms will subside. Luckily it doesn't take very long to recover from hypothermia." she explained.

"Alright, thank you so much" Morgan replied gratefully and returned to the room.

"Hey kid, how are you doing?" Morgan asked, sitting back down in the chair next to Reid's bed.

"Good" Reid replied weakly. Morgan laughed at the irony in Reid's response.


	7. Chapter 7

The rest of the team came to visit Reid in the hospital. They were so relieved to find out that he was alright. They talked and hung out for hours, it was becoming nightfall. Soon the team left to get some rest. Morgan stayed behind, he just couldn't leave Reid.

It was now the middle of the night, Reid was sleeping in the hospital bed, Morgan sleeping in the chair next to him.

 _Reid heard the ice crack from underneath him, he fell into the freezing cold water. "Morgan!" He yelled, but Morgan kept walking like he didn't hear his cries. Reid began to sink further down into the lake. He couldn't breathe, water was filling his lungs, the cold water biting his skin, it stung. It hurt. "Morgan! Help!" he yelled helplessly from underneath the water. He tried desperately to swim up to the surface, but he wouldn't move, it was like running on a treadmill. Reid watched in terror as the hole of ice above him, his only chance of escape, began to re-freeze, sealing him inside the lake. "No! Morgan please come!" He yelled, this was it, he was going to drown and die..._

Morgan awoke to Reid shouting his name, he looked to Reid and his eyes were closed. His lovable features contorted with fear and pain. "Morgan...g-goodbye" Reid whimpered, still asleep, a tear fell down his cheek.

Morgan couldn't stand seeing Reid so frightened, he placed his hand on Reid's shoulder and shook him awake. "Reid, wake up" he said.

Reid's eyes opened with a jolt and he was wide eyed in fear, he began to struggle against Morgan's grip.

"Shh- no, don't panic Reid, it's just a dream" Morgan soothed, looking deep into Reid's panicked eyes.

Reid nodded softly, still trembling. "I was stuck under the ice a-and I couldn't get out I-I couldn't breathe!" Reid cried out as he began to recollect his nightmare.

"Reid, Reid just breathe, everything is alright, you're safe" Morgan comforted, sitting down on the bed and rubbing Reid's back softly to calm him down.

"You couldn't hear m-me calling, so I sunk and I began to d-drown, I couldn't swim up" Reid began to ramble, frightened.

"Do you wanna talk about it?" Morgan asked.

Reid explained his nightmare to Morgan in detail. Once Reid was done, Morgan embraced Reid in a hug.

"Reid, I want you to know that I love you. I would never leave you behind" Morgan whispered reassuringly.

Reid exhaled deeply after finally calming down.

"Why don't you get some sleep Reid, it's 3 am" Morgan said, yawning.

"I'm so sorry I woke you up in the middle of the night Morgan" Reid apologized shamefully.

"Reid, don't be sorry at all, what you went through was awful, I don't expect you to get over it just like that" Morgan explained, getting up from the bed and sitting back in his chair.

The room was quiet for a while before Reid broke the silence.

"Morgan?" Reid asked softly

"Yeah Reid?" Morgan replied kindly.

"I'm scared to go back to sleep" Reid admitted.

"Reid, you're safe here, If you start having a nightmare again I will wake you up" Morgan reassured.

The room was filled with silence once again.

"Morgan?" Reid hesitantly asked.

"Yes Reid?" Morgan asked patiently.

"C-can you sleep n-next to me? I don't wanna be alone" Reid questioned softly.

"Alright Reid," Morgan agreed, getting up from the chair and climbed into the hospital bed, putting the warm bedsheets over both Reid and himself.

"I'm tired Reid, so promise me you'll go to sleep this time?" Morgan asked.

"I promise...Thank you Morgan" Reid whispered.

Morgan snuggled closer to Reid and placed his arm around Reid to soothe him. Reid rested his head on Morgan's shoulder. After a while, Morgan heard Reid's breathing calm down. He looked down to see Reid sleeping tranquilly. Morgan closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.


	8. Chapter 8

Reid was released from the hospital today. His vitals were looking healthy and his core temperature was back to normal. Now the team was in the jet, flying back to Quantico.

Reid was snuggled inside a cobalt blue blanket, sleeping on the couch.

Morgan sat in the chair closest to Reid, keeping a close eye on him. He wanted to be there for Reid in case he had another nightmare. "Why do bad things always happen to Reid?" Morgan thought to himself.

The team was sitting together and talking, trying to avoid discussing what had just happened. Prentiss and JJ were especially quiet. They were not ready to see Reid so cold and lifeless, they would never be ready. It scared them. Reid was too young, smart, innocent, and kind to be lost to some stupid frozen lake.

 _Reid found himself tied to a chair in a cold, dark room. In front of him was a stool with a bowl of water on top of it. Reid struggled against his bindings but stopped when he heard footsteps coming from behind him. Reid turned around to see who was coming. It was a man made out of ice. He had no facial features, just an expressionless face that gave Reid the chills._ _The man gripped the back of Reid's neck vigorously. Reid let out a whimper of fear. The man began to push Reid's head towards the bowl of water. He held Reid's face down in the water, not letting him come up for air. Reid's heart began to race, he couldn't hold his breath any longer. Reid struggled to come up for air, but the man kept his icy grip on him. Reid's body began to gasp for air, even though in his mind he knew there was no way to get oxygen. The water filled up Reid's lungs and stung like fire. He could feel breath of death upon his neck, this was the end._

Morgan heard Reid begin to take short and panicked breaths. Once again, Reid's face showed fear and pain. He shuddered in his sleep. "No, stop" Reid whimpered weakly. Reid began to thrash about like someone was hurting him. Reid began to take hysterical gasps for air and thrash more.

Morgan jumped up from his seat and shook Reid's shoulder.

The team got up from there seats to see what was going on.

"Reid wake up! It's not real!" Morgan yelled.

Reid's eyes shot open and he blinked a couple times. He saw the whole team surrounding him with looks of worry on their faces. Reid buried his face in his hands from embarrassment.

"I'm so sorry" Reid apologized. His pale cheeks becoming flushed.

"Aww Reid, you have nothing to apologize for" Garcia consoled, squeezing Reid into a hug.

The team went back to their seats, they could tell that Reid felt very uncomfortable with all eyes on him. They didn't want to overwhelm him, it was better to just let him calm down.

Morgan took a seat next to Reid on the couch.

"Another nightmare?" Morgan asked, even though he knew the answer

Reid nodded his head of messy brown locks, rubbing his tired eyes.

"I understand if you don't wanna talk about it right now, but I just want you to know that I will be here for you. Always" Morgan comforted.

Reid nodded again, "Thanks" he said shyly.

"You need anything?" Morgan offered.

"I actually am a bit thirsty" Reid admitted.

"Sure thing kid" Morgan said before getting up to grab Reid a glass of water.

Morgan came back and handed Reid a glass of water with ice in it. Reid's chest felt like it was getting tighter, his heart beat faster. The feeling of cold water in his hands sent him back to drowning in a lake.

Morgan noticed Reid was just staring wide-eyed at the glass of water.

"Everything alright kid?" Morgan asked.

Reid didn't notice Morgan calling his name.

"Huh? Oh yeah everything's fine" Reid lied.

Reid took a sip of the water, but the moment that the water hit his lips, he was afraid. The nightmare he just had, it only took a small bowl of water to kill him, why was a glass of water any different. He knew logically that drinking water was completely normal, there was nothing to be afraid of. But feeling the water go down his esophagus reminded him of his lungs filling up with water, and the pain it caused. He couldn't stand it any longer.

Morgan saw Reid take a sip of water, not enough to quench anyone's thirst. He noticed that Reid simply stared at the glass of water, he seemed, afraid of it.

"Reid, are you okay?" Morgan asked concerned.

"I'm fine" Reid said quickly, before getting up and pouring the water down the drain.


	9. Chapter 9

Reid tried drinking water for hours that night in his apartment trying to get rid of his fear of water. He knew exposure therapy was an effective method for overcoming phobias. But every time he drank water he panicked and coughed it out in fear. He couldn't even take a proper shower. All he could envision was drowning in the water, even though in a shower it was nearly impossible. His alternative was to awkwardly cleanse his body one small cup of water and soap at a time.

 _"What am I supposed to do? People can only live 3 days without water..."_ Reid thought after his "shower". Then an idea struck him.

 _"Maybe I won't feel the same about coffee"_ He hypothesized, since it wasn't cold, but it still was water based.

Reid poured the water cautiously into the coffee pot, scooped the dark and aromatic coffee grounds into the filter, and turned on the coffee pot.

Once the coffee was done he poured his favorite drink into a mug. He stared at the dark liquid, watching the steam rise from it. Reid poured the sugar into the coffee and stirred it, watching it dissolve. He waited patiently for it to cool down enough to drink. The smell of coffee always comforted Reid, it was a brilliant scent that he would never get tired of. He had slight fear in him, but not as much as water. Maybe this would work.

With a deep breath, Reid raised the edge of the mug to his delicate lips. He poured the warm coffee slowly into his mouth. For a moment he stopped, holding the flavorful drink in his mouth.

 _"You can do this Reid, you have been drinking coffee forever, this is no different"_ he motivated himself.

With that, he gulped it down. He was expecting to freak out, but coffee was so much different than water, it felt completely normal. Reid smiled with pride.

 _"Well, that was easier than I thought"_ Reid said internally, taking a larger sip of coffee.

Then something went wrong. The coffee went down the wrong pipe.

Reid's body naturally began to cough because of the liquid inside of his lungs. But even this common problem filled Reid with fear. Reid dropped the mug of coffee on the ground in shock. He tried to breathe but he kept coughing, usually when this happened he would just struggle to say "wrong pipe" and give a thumbs up. But this felt so much more intense, so much more serious, Reid was transported back to the bottom of a lake, back to being face first in a bowl of water. And he couldn't escape.

When he was finally done coughing, he gasped for air as if he had just ran a marathon. Reid ran his fingers through his hair in stress. There were shards of the ceramic mug shattered on the floor, surrounded in a pool of wasted coffee. He bent down to pick up the pieces, sighing to himself.

 _"Great, now I can't even drink coffee without freaking out... this was my favorite mug too"_ Reid thought in disappointment and anger.

 _"Now what am I gonna do? Just die of thirst?"_ He thought hopelessly.

Reid cleaned up the coffee with some paper towels and threw away the mug fragments. He checked the time on his watch, it was already midnight, he wanted so badly to be over his water phobia before work tomorrow.

Discouraged, he turned off the lights and headed to bed.

Reid tossed and turned all night, he was afraid to go to sleep again, every time he closed his eyes, he had a hyperrealistic nightmare. He wished that Morgan was here to comfort him again.

Once Reid saw the sun begin to rise, he knew there was no use in going to sleep. He laid staring at the ceiling and groaned when his alarm clock began to blare. He became upset with the fact that he couldn't even manage to drink coffee to wake him up today.

Reid got up and got dressed. He looked in the mirror at his disheveled appearance, his tired, sunken eyes telling that something needed to be done soon.

 _"Just one more try before work"_ Reid convinced himself, opening his fridge and getting a bottle of water out.

He opened the water bottle and became nervous again. Not only were flashbacks and images of drowning coming to mind, but now he worried about the water going down the wrong pipe again.

 _"Stop being such a wimp already and drink it, it won't kill you!"_ Reid repeated in his mind, before cramming his eyes shut and taking a large gulp of water.

Reid began to panic again and coughed some of the water out, luckily though, he got some water down. At least he got _some_ hydration.

He threw the water bottle back in the fridge angrily and headed to work.


	10. Chapter 10

Reid arrived at work early that day. He sat at his desk finishing some paperwork that was stacked on his desk. Might as well be productive. He tried his best not to focus on how thirsty he was. Reid had only drank about a cup or two of water altogether from the time he fell in the lake to now. Reid desperately wanted to drink coffee, he craved the flavor and needed the caffeine right now.

Morgan and Prentiss walked out of the elevator and into the office together. They were making light conversation like usual, setting down their bags at their desks.

"Hey Reid" Prentiss greeted kindly. Reid didn't look up from his papers, he was lost in his own thoughts, separated from the real world.

"Reid?" Morgan said, louder. Reid snapped out of it and looked up.

"What?" Reid asked, looking at Morgan and then to Prentiss.

Morgan saw that Reid looked very tired, his eyes were squinted and had darker-than-normal circles under them. His hair was messy and sticking up in random places. However, Morgan was afraid to show too much concern, he wanted Reid to feel like everything was back to normal.

"Are you okay? You look really tired" Prentiss observed.

Reid rubbed his eyes, he could feel a migraine coming on. With his eyes still closed, he nodded.

"Yeah I'm fine, just didn't get much sleep last night" Reid replied casually.

"Alright kid, you want some coffee then? I'm getting some" Morgan said.

"Ooh get me one will you?" Prentiss asked Morgan.

"I'm good thanks" Reid said, even though he was dying for some.

"Reid doesn't want coffee? You're sure you feel okay?" Prentiss joked, Morgan left to get coffee.

Reid laughed with Prentiss at the joke, he didn't want them to worry about him or anything. He just needed to act like normal and nobody would notice...hopefully.

 _"Maybe I should go and get coffee, I can still try to drink it"_ Reid thought, he really wanted to avoid suspicion from his fellow colleagues.

Upon standing up, Reid began to feel slightly dizzy. His world dimmed for a second and the floor swayed. Reid placed his hand on the desk to stable himself. He blinked a couple times and he started to regain composure.

"Woah Reid, are you alright?" Prentiss asked concerned after seeing Reid so out of it.

"Yeah, I stood up too fast" Reid said as an excuse. He knew the symptoms of dehydration when he saw them.

He walked over to Morgan was to get coffee.

"Hey" Morgan said, he wanted to ask Reid what was going on so badly, he could tell that something wasn't right with him. He decided just to be straight forward.

"Reid, did you get any sleep last night? Be honest, I care about you" Morgan asked.

Reid wanted to lie, but Morgan always saw right through him. "No, I was too afraid of drowning again" he admitted.

"Drowning again? You mean a nightmare?" Morgan asked for clarification.

"Oh yeah, sorry, It's hard to determine reality from nightmares sometimes" Reid explained, pouring coffee into the paper cup.

The back of Reid's eyes and his forehead started to throb with pain, his headache was getting stronger. Reid shut his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose in pain. He began to rub in-between his eyebrows.

"Reid, tell me what's going on," Morgan said, he hated seeing Reid go through so much pain.

Reid was silent for a moment, he didn't want to tell Morgan about his fear of drinking water. Morgan might think he was weak, then he would baby him even more.

"I don't want to tell you, I am sick of everyone asking if i'm okay and treating me like a child" Reid blurted out in a ramble.

"Reid, please talk to me about it, I care about you man" Morgan asked, he just wanted to help Reid.

"I'm tired of being such a burden, please, just let me handle this on my own" Reid replied and walked back to his desk.


	11. Chapter 11

JJ had a new case for the BAU to investigate, she gave everyone the briefing.

All of the team could tell that something off about Reid. He was avoiding eye contact, rubbing his temple and pressing the bridge of his nose in pain, and he seemed the kind of exhausted that sleep wouldn't fix.

"Wheels up in 30" Hotch ordered.

Everyone got up from their chairs and left the bullpen. Reid walked out slowly, feeling his eyelids begging to close from fatigue.

Once he got to his desk he slumped down onto the rolling office chair, leaning his head back for a few seconds. However, his body took those few seconds to get the rest it so desperately desired. Reid fell asleep before a minute was up.

"I'm worried about Reid" Morgan told Garcia inside her computer office as she typed and clicked away.

"Why, what's wrong?" She asked concerned, stopping to give Morgan eye contact.

"I can tell something is wrong, he looks so tired and weak, when I asked him if he got sleep he admitted to being up all night due to his intense nightmares. I wanted to talk to him about it but he denied and walked away" Morgan explained.

"Aww not my sweet boy, he doesn't deserve this" Garcia sympathized genuinely.

"What should I do? He doesn't want me to help him, but I need to" Morgan asked

"Maybe you could just treat him like nothing is wrong and you aren't trying to get on his case. You know, just chat with him about whatever feels right, later on he might get comfortable enough to open up more" Garcia suggested.

"I guess it's worth a try, thanks baby girl" Morgan said, leaving her office

Morgan saw Reid at his desk, leaned back in his chair, eyes closed, lips slightly parted, neck stretched back as his head lay on the uncomfortable back of the chair. Morgan became concerned for his friend and walked briskly over to Reid.

Morgan placed a gentle hand on Reid's shoulder. He was about to shake him awake when he saw Reid's featherweight eyelids covering his beautiful honey-brown eyes. The nostrils on his adorable nose exhaling peacefully. His flawless lips parted ever so slightly that his teeth barely graced his bottom lip. Morgan wondered if he should disrupt his friend's tranquil and elegant rest.

Morgan decided to wait ten minutes to let Reid sleep a while longer. However, Morgan became worried with the notion that Reid might get another nightmare, he always hating seeing Reid after a nightmare. The way his captivating eyes show such intense emotion and fear once they open. The way they stare at you in terror before realizing the dream wasn't real. Morgan could only describe it as heartbreaking.

Ten minutes passed and everyone was grabbing their go-bags and preparing to leave. Morgan walked up to Reid quietly and placed his soft touch upon Reid's shoulder once again.

"Reid?" Morgan said quietly, shaking him.

Reid remained indifferent to Morgan's attempt to wake him. Morgan shook him harder again.

"Reid," Morgan said louder this time. The other team members heard and began to see what was going on, they came up closer.

Reid still stayed impossible to awaken. Morgan became uneasy at the too-familiar sight of Reid laying unconscious.

"He might wake up if I pour a bit of water on him, that always wakes people up" Morgan thought, he wasn't knowledgable of Reid's new phobia of water.

Grabbing a water bottle from his go-bag, he unscrewed the lid and held the bottle of water close to Reid's face. He slightly tipped the bottle down and poured a small amount of water onto Reid's face.

In about three seconds, Reid's eyes shot open and he looked startled. He sat up straight and gripped the arm rests of his chair tightly. Morgan tried not to sound overly concerned.

"Hey man, we gotta get going" Morgan said, taking Garcia's advice and trying to sound natural.

"Oh, yeah, sorry I must have fell asleep" Reid apologized and slung his bag over his shoulder.


End file.
